General Information

Artemisia umbelliformis is an aromatic, herbaceous perennial plant with a branched, woody rootstock. The plant forms a mat of low, sterile stems and one to several flowering stems around 25cm tallp200].
An important alpine plant, much harvested from the wild and used to make flavoured beverages, including the highly prized Alpine liqueur known as 'Genepi' which is of considerable commercial importance. Due to its rarity and high cost, the plant it is cultivated in the Alps of Italy, France and Switzerland for its essential oil and for use as a cosmetic[

A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.

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Artemisia umbelliformis is a naturally rare Alpine plant which has undergone declines as a result of indiscriminate picking for its use in the production of the liquor 'Genepi'. Its collection is now prohibited in Switzerland and Italy, but continues in France on a regulated level. It is widely cultivated within these regions for liquor production (except in southern France where it is still collected), which has relieved collection pressure on wild populations and thereby is preventing further declines. Its status in other countries within its range is more uncertain; there is a lack of information on the population and distribution in the Carpathian and Balkan mountains. Given its broad distribution and the protection measures currently in place across parts of its range (precisely in the regions where collection has been most well-documented), the plant is provisionally listed as Least Concern. However, if its population is small and collection pressure is high across its range, and given its increased rarity, it may warrant listing in a higher category of threat. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2013)[

Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.

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Other Uses

The extract of the plant is rich in essential oil, tannins and flavanoids. It is used in cosmetic applications for its anti-oxidative, radical scavenging, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties[

Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

]. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant out in late spring or early summer.
Division in spring or autumn[